Completorium, Completinum, or Compline (from Lat. complere, to fill up), the last service in the evening; the bed-time service. According to the canonical hours, fixed hours for public prayer were introduced into the Church with the institutions of the monastic life. In the Western Church the practice of praying seven times a day was adopted in the 5th or 6th century, and the completorium was the last or finishing canonical hour. See Procter, Hist. of the Common Prayer, p. 11; Freeman, Principles of Divine Service, p. 83. SEE CANONICAL HOURS; SEE BREVIARY.
The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature was edited by John McClintock and James Strong. It contains nearly 50,000 articles pertaining to Biblical and other religious literature, people, creeds, etc. It is a fantastic research tool for broad Christian study.
John McClintock was born October 27, 1814 in Philadelphia to Irish immigrants, John and Martha McClintock. He began as a clerk in his father's store, and then became a bookkeeper in the Methodist Book Concern in New York. Here he converted to Methodism and considered joining the ministry. McClintock entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1832 and graduated with high honors three years later. Subsequently, he was awarded a doctorate of divinity degree from the same institution in 1848.WikipediaRead More